History of rugby union matches between Italy and New Zealand
The All Blacks first played against Italy at the opening game of the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987, beating them 70-6 at Eden Park, Auckland. The two teams have played a total of fifteen Test matches recognised by both sides as full internationals, with New Zealand winning all of them by an average margin of 51 points.
The two sides have been in the same pool in five of the eight Rugby World Cup tournaments to date but have only played each other four times because Typhoon Hagibis caused their scheduled meeting in the 2019 tournament to be cancelled. The first 11 meetings between the two sides since their first clash in 1987 were never played at the same venue, then two tests had been held back to back at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Summary[]
Note: Summary below reflects test results by both teams.
Overall[]
Details | Played | Won by Italy |
Won by New Zealand |
Drawn | Italy points | New Zealand points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
In New Zealand | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 161 |
In Italy | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 73 | 428 |
Neutral venue | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 45 | 278 |
Overall | 15 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 140 | 867 |
Records[]
Note: Date shown in brackets indicates when the record was or last set.
Record | Italy | New Zealand |
---|---|---|
Longest winning streak | NA | 14 (22 May 1987–2018) |
Largest points for | ||
Home | 19 (25 November 2000) | 70 (22 May 1987) |
Away | 21 (13 October 1991) | 101 (14 October 1999) |
Largest winning margin | ||
Home | NA | 64 (22 May 1987) |
Away | NA | 98 (14 October 1999) |
Results[]
No. | Date | Venue | Score | Winner | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 22 May 1987 | Eden Park, Auckland | 70 – 6 | ![]() |
1987 Rugby World Cup |
2 | 13 October 1991 | Welford Road Stadium, Leicester, England | 31 – 21 | ![]() |
1991 Rugby World Cup |
3 | 28 October 1995 | Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna | 6 – 70 | ![]() |
1995 New Zealand rugby union tour of Italy and France |
4 | 14 October 1999 | McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield, England | 101 – 3 | ![]() |
1999 Rugby World Cup |
5 | 25 November 2000 | Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa | 19 – 56 | ![]() |
2000 end-of-year internationals |
6 | 8 June 2002 | Waikato Stadium, Hamilton | 64 – 10 | ![]() |
2002 Italy rugby union tour |
7 | 11 October 2003 | Colonial Stadium, Melbourne, Australia | 70 – 7 | ![]() |
2003 Rugby World Cup |
8 | 13 November 2004 | Stadio Flaminio, Rome | 10 – 59 | ![]() |
2004 end-of-year internationals |
9 | 8 September 2007 | Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France | 76 – 14 | ![]() |
2007 Rugby World Cup |
10 | 27 June 2009 | AMI Stadium, Christchurch | 27 – 6 | ![]() |
2009 mid-year internationals |
11 | 14 November 2009 | San Siro Stadium, Milan | 6 – 20 | ![]() |
2009 end-of-year internationals |
12 | 17 November 2012 | Stadio Olimpico, Rome | 10 – 42 | ![]() |
2012 end-of-year internationals |
13 | 12 November 2016 | Stadio Olimpico, Rome | 10 – 68 | ![]() |
2016 end-of-year internationals |
14 | 24 November 2018 | Stadio Olimpico, Rome | 3 – 66 | ![]() |
2018 end-of-year internationals |
– | 12 October 2019 | City of Toyota Stadium, Toyota, Japan | 0 – 0 | Match cancelled 1 | 2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B |
15 | 6 November 2021 | Stadio Olimpico, Rome | 9 – 47 | ![]() |
2021 end-of-year rugby union internationals |
Notes[]
- ^1 The 2019 Rugby World Cup match between the two sides was cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis and awarded in the tournament as a 0–0 draw.
XV Results[]
Below is a match that Italy has awarded test match status by virtue of awarding caps, but New Zealand did not award caps.
Date | Venue | Score | Victor | Competition | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
22 October 1977 | Padua | 9 – 17 | ![]() |
1977 New Zealand rugby union tour of Italy and France | Italian President's XV - not classed as a full international |
28 November 1979 | Rovigo | 12 – 18 | ![]() |
1979 New Zealand tour of England, Scotland & Italy | Classed as a full international by Italy only |
References[]
- New Zealand national rugby union team matches
- Italy national rugby union team matches